New Facilities for Barracks Road Primary

The more than 1,600 students and 43 staff members at the Barracks Road Primary School in Montego Bay, St. James are now enjoying more spacious surroundings, with the opening of an additional five classrooms and other facilities at that institution yesterday (Oct. 27).
Two of the classrooms were built through the Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA) in partnership with the USAID, while the other three classrooms along with a staff room, Principals office, computer room, bathrooms and facilities for the vendors at the school were built through a collaborative effort between the Barracks Road Upliftment Benevolent Society and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), at a total cost of approximately $14 million.
The JSIF aspect of the project also included the provision of furniture for students and teachers in the new facilities, and was funded at a cost of approximately $12.6 million under the European Union funded Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP).
Speaking at the dedication and handing over ceremony, Project Manager at JSIF, Faith Graham pointed out that the Barracks Road Primary School project was the tenth project to be completed by the organisation under the PRP.
Pointing out that the JSIF was firmly committed to assisting the underserved of the society; she said it was for this reason why she was pleased to announce the commencement of a new initiative by JSIF called the Inner City Basic Services for the Poor (ICBS) project.
She outlined that the ICBS project was aimed at improving the social, economic and physical conditions in some 15 selected inner-city communities, adding that plans for work to be carried out under this new programme was currently being reviewed.
“Currently we are doing the preparation of this ICBS project, and this preparation is being funded jointly with a grant of US$650,000 from the Japanese Government, and a preparation facility of an additional US$650,000 from the World Bank. “The preparation activities should come to an end in December, and then we move into the phase of finalizing the design of the project, and negotiating for the World Bank loan which is about US$25 million, which will actually fund the implementation of the project,” she explained.
According to Mrs. Graham, the communities to benefit under the ICBS project are, Browns Town, Passmore Town, Jones Town, Federal Gardens and Whitfield Town in Kingston and St. Andrew; Tawes Pen, Africa, Dempshire Gardens/Jones Avenue, Central Village, Lauriston, and Knollis in St. Catherine; Bucknor/Rectory Land in Clarendon, and Flankers in St. James.